The roots of lingonberries are very shallow, and although they don’t need the bogginess of a cranberry, lingonberry growing conditions should allow for consistent irrigation – one inch (2.5 cm.) of water per week. Lingonberries can also be container grown, although they need to be overwintered by mulching over them or banking them with hay bales. After a few years, the plants will fill in, creating a low, evergreen hedge. Mulch around the new plants with 2 to 3 inches (5-8 cm.) of peat moss or sawdust.įor multiple plants, space them 14 to 18 inches (36-46 cm.) apart in rows set 3 to 4 feet (1 m.) apart. Set the plants at the same height they were growing in their pots and water them in well. Dig a hole that is a few inches (8 cm.) deeper than the root ball and wide enough to allow for spreading roots. Plan to plant in the spring after all danger of frost has passed. Optimal lingonberry growing conditions will have a soil pH of 5.0 in well-draining soil rich in organic matter. How to Grow Lingonberries at HomeĪlthough lingonberries do well in partial shade, making them terrific understory options combined with acid lovers like highbush blueberries, to encourage larger crops, plant them in full sun. The fruit can then be refrigerated for up to three weeks, or canned, frozen, or dried. Each bush yields a pound and half (1 kg.) of vitamin C-rich berries. Plants are picked with a scrabbler, a wide, fork-like tool that strips the berries from the bush. Once planted, a little patience needs to be exercised, as the shrubs do not begin to produce for two to three years after. The first crop is ready to harvest in July and the second in October. The cultivated European lingonberries blossom in the spring and again in midsummer. The sweetness tames the bitterness but doesn’t completely obliterate it, leaving you with something sublime much like how cranberry sauce and turkey go well together. As with cranberries, lingonberries combined with sugar are something else. The berries are attractive and tantalizing looking, but eaten raw, are very bitter. Growing lingonberries can be found wild in Sweden in woodlands and moorlands. Leaves of the lingonberry are shiny on a low-growing, evergreen shrub that reaches from 12 to 18 inches (31-46 cm.) high and 18 inches (46 cm.) across. The European lingonberry has bigger berries that are produced twice in a growing season. Native species of lingonberry bear an annual crop of small, red berries that taste much like cranberries. They are a close relative of the cranberry and blueberry. Lingonberries ( Vaccinum vitas-idaea) are also referred to as cowberries, mountain or lowbush cranberries, red bilberries, or whortleberries. Lingonberries are commonly used in Swedish food and are considered to be a crucial accompaniment to many Swedish dishes such as potato pancakes, Swedish meatballs, and stuffed cabbage rolls. If you don’t have friends of Scandinavian descent, you may be wondering, “What are lingonberries?” The following article is filled with lingonberry information, including how to grow your own lingonberries at home. I live in an area of the United States that is rife with folks of Scandinavian origin, so I know a thing or two about lingonberries.
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